Madhya Pradesh Information Commission — contact, appeals

• Phone: 0755-2553495
• Address: 4th Floor, Vindhyachal Bhavan, Bhopal — Madhya Pradesh State Information Commission
• Hours: Mon-Fri 10am-5pm
• Portal: sic.mp.gov.in — Hindi-first, with online appeal and complaint filing

The Commission is the second-appellate body for RTI in Madhya Pradesh: if a Public Information Officer's reply is wrong, incomplete or absent, and the first appeal inside the department has also failed, the second appeal lands here under Section 19(2) of the RTI Act, 2005. The Commission can order disclosure, and it can penalise a PIO under Section 20 — ₹250 for each day of delay, up to ₹25,000 — and recommend disciplinary action. It also hears complaints under Section 18 where no appeal route fits.

• Deadline: within 90 days of the first-appeal decision, or of the date it should have arrived — “reasonable cause” explained in the appeal can cover a later filing.
• Where: the Commission's portal offers online second-appeal and complaint filing, or file by post to the Bhopal address above. Hindi is the working language of most files; English is accepted.
• Attach: the original application copy, the PIO's reply, the first-appeal filing and decision, and a short statement of grounds.
• Hearings: mostly in Bhopal, with video-conference links for distant parties — ask for VC in the appeal itself if travel is hard.

Madhya Pradesh prescribes its fee and appeal procedure under the state's RTI (Fees and Appeals) Rules, 2005: the application fee is ₹10, and first appeals inside departments carry no fee. If a PIO demands more than the schedule, that is itself a first-appeal ground — quote the rules in the appeal.

Have your appeal number and filing date at hand, and ask two things: whether your file is complete on the registry's record, and the next listing date. The portal shows both without a call — the status of an appeal or complaint filed online is searchable on sic.mp.gov.in, so check there before dialling.

Helplines often log a complaint without solving it. RTI gives you the file noting + officer name + actual reasoning, and most stuck cases clear within 7-15 days.

1. Status of my second appeal / complaint no. _____ dated _____ as on date.
2. Name + designation of the registrar or officer assigned to my file.
3. Reasons for delay beyond the statutory timeline.
4. Copy of any noting / movement of my file in the past 30 days.
5. Likely date of hearing / decision.

Auto-fill the PIO + your case: Open the RTI Drafter →

Your appeal is registered and numbered, and the Commission's registry screens it for completeness — a missing first-appeal copy or an unexplained delay beyond 90 days is the commonest cause of an early query. Once listed, notice of the hearing goes to you and the PIO; if you asked for video-conference in the appeal, the notice usually carries the link or the option. Most matters are decided on written submissions, and oral argument is reserved for the cases the Commissioner wants to probe. At the hearing, the PIO must answer two questions: why was the information withheld, and under which section? A PIO who cannot answer both precisely usually loses. The order follows in writing, and a direction to disclose binds the department.

A second appeal under Section 19 needs the application-reply-first-appeal chain behind it. A complaint under Section 18 fits when there is no reply worth appealing — the PIO never responded, demanded an unlawful fee, or refused to accept the application. The remedies differ: an appeal can get you the information with directions; a complaint gets the Commission's inquiry and, where warranted, penalty under Section 20 — ₹250 a day of delay, capped at ₹25,000, plus possible disciplinary action.

Quote your appeal number and filing date in every follow-up, in Hindi or English. The registry answers specific files quickly and vague ones never — which is the entire point of the five-question template above.

Not to the Commission — first appeals under Section 19(1) go to the officer senior to the PIO inside the same department, and carry no fee under the state's Fees and Appeals Rules. The Commission is the second stop, after that first appeal has been decided or should have been.

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